An ex-teacher at a private school in Franklin Township is suing her former employers for firing her in April, a new lawsuit claims. Above is an October 2008 file photo of a student writing in a notebook.Conner Jay/The Jersey Journal

FRANKLIN TWP. — A Pennsylvania woman claims in a new lawsuit that she was fired from her teaching job at a private school in Franklin Township after demanding worker’s compensation benefits and refusing to implement certain “unethical” policies in the classroom.

Allyson O’Rourke-Barrett, of Yardley, Pa., is suing the New Jersey Chinese Community Center and two center employees for wrongfully terminating her in April, according to a complaint filed July 5 in Superior Court in Somerville.

O’Rourke-Barrett also blames the center and its employees for her slipping on ice on the center’s property, the complaint states.

In addition to the center, named as defendants in the lawsuit are Jimmy Hwang, the founder and director of the center, and Cynthia Hwang, a member of the center’s legal services department.

Jimmy Hwang and Cynthia Hwang both declined to comment.

The center includes a “coeducational, English/Chinese bilingual day school,” known as the Elite Preparatory Academy, which educates students between pre-kindergarten and 12th grade, according to the center’s website.

O’Rourke-Barrett worked as a teacher at the school from September 2012 until about April 16, the complaint states. During her employment, O’Rourke-Barrett received “no notice, verbal, written, or otherwise, of any performance issues,” the complaint states.

The complaint states that O’Rourke-Barrett slipped and fell on ice on the center’s property around Feb. 12.

In seeking worker’s compensation benefits, O’Rourke-Barrett was referred to the school’s legal counsel and then instructed around April 9 to sign a power of attorney agreement, the complaint states. That agreement would authorize “counsel to ‘represent her and her interests in the above-referenced matter,’” the complaint states.

O’Rourke-Barrett claims she was fired in retaliation for making “repeated inquiries” about receiving worker’s compensation benefits and refusing to sign the power of attorney agreement, the complaint states.

O’Rourke-Barrett also alleges Jimmy Hwang implemented “unethical and inappropriate policies” and instructed her to carry out the same policies in the classroom, the complaint states. She claims she was fired for refusing to do so, the complaint states.

The complaint does not specify those alleged policies, and O’Rourke-Barrett’s attorney, Michael Gorny, did not return calls seeking comment.